by Laura Rote | Dec 11, 2019 | Insights
1. I’d wish I’d known succinctly that hard work would pay off. I was frustrated by the perceived ghosts you’d hear about. I thought you needed glowing accreditations and prestigious college degrees and a host of frivolities like “good looks” and “family money” and...
by Laura Rote | Dec 10, 2019 | Insights
Self-described “vector art monster” Robert Generette III, aka Rob Zilla, taught for 20 years, most recently photography, before quitting to freelance full-time in the DC area, having worked repeatedly with mega clients like the NBA, ESPN, Xbox, and Adobe. “I was...
by Laura Rote | Dec 5, 2019 | Design
Magazine Holder by Paul McCobb Designed for Fritz Hansen Fritz Hansen Head of Design Christian Andresen calls this piece a no-fuss design object from the ’50s—one that continues to resonate. “McCobb was always playing with contrast, which you see here between the...
by Laura Rote | Dec 5, 2019 | Design
When prolific industrial designer Karim Rashid arrives at the office, he heads straight for a strong latte (or two) before answering emails and getting started on the many things on his to-do list, from meeting with studio managers and assistants to doing his own...
by Laura Rote | Nov 26, 2019 | Insights
Melanie Perkins was studying at the University of Western Australia when she dropped out to build her first company. She’s since cofounded Canva, which more than 18 million people in 190 countries use every month to design. Canva has repeatedly been named the best...
by Laura Rote | Nov 19, 2019 | Recommended
Slow down with us as we admire the finer, even unseeable things like the passage of time and the smell of a good spritz of perfume. From ethereal aromas to finely crafted watches, these are just a few of our favorite representations of time and scent this season. 1....
by Laura Rote | Nov 15, 2019 | Design
You can feel the anticipation the moment the lights go down. The musicians step out and the crowd goes wild. And the band—whether it’s Van Halen or Phantogram—is buzzing with energy, too. Not with noise and incredibly loud stage volume, but with the sound of Westone’s...
by Laura Rote | Nov 12, 2019 | Design
When the design team at Cabot Wrenn develops new prototypes, they ask one simple question: “Would you have it in your home?” After an 11-month process creating Styrofoam and 3D printed prototypes, they answered with a resounding yes. One of their results is the Den...
by Laura Rote | Nov 6, 2019 | Interviews
Peek at any one of the dozens of journals inside Blake Crouch’s Durango, Colorado home, and he may seem a bit peculiar. Advertisement That’s where genius ideas for his thrilling works of science fiction are born, in drawings and scribbles on ruled paper, like “4th...
by Laura Rote | Nov 1, 2019 | In The Studio
When it’s nice out, Sharm Murugiah bikes or runs the six or seven miles to his studio in a 19th century library building in southeast London. Advertisement He calls the neighborhood a “leafy part of London,” about a 20-minute train trek from the Shard; it’s a place...
by Laura Rote | Oct 31, 2019 | Recommended
A good party begins with proper planning. We should know; we’ve thrown quite a few of our own. Hosting can be daunting at times, and the combination of food, drinks, and guests can make or break a night. We recently talked to some of the experts about how to throw the...
by Laura Rote | Oct 31, 2019 | Design
It took a team of designers and engineers many hours of research, sketches, and models to create a small appliance that performs as well as a large one. But Wolf Gourmet’s team in Richmond made it happen. “The underlying idea was to deliver precision control and the...
